I was not a fan of the Berube hiring when it happened and I'm not a fan now. Berube wants to , a little too much, be a friend of the players, coming out after recent games indicating the players are tired. It is not his job to be the excuse machine. It is his job to find the best possible combination.
There were 3 players from the Leafs who did not get a two week rest in Feb, the "they are tired" excuse for the vast majority of the team is BS. Matty is injured and had scored 1 even strength goals since Jan, rest him, people say a 70% Matty is better than 100% of most other players. No he is not, he is not scoring, he is not defending, he is not helpfull. Willie, well you can read it in his play, he is back to the I dont give a shit type play, is he tired or just annoyed that he has to work for money, only he knows. Mitch, our best player this year, WTF are you doing, you've been dogshit the last two games, get your head out of your arse, big whoop they asked you to waive your no trade deal, you've been playing a game of "I got all the cards" for the last two years, grow up, put on your big boy pants and be the difference maker we all know you can be.
On Berube , stop making f***ing excuses for this team. You're at best a middling coach, you won a cup because Binnington when god mode for 6 months.
1) Teach your players how to support each other, how many f-ing times do I have to watch our opponents out number our players along the boards, it's not rocket Science, change your system
2) Get the damn puck out, how many times do we have to watch our team turn over the puck at the blue line , only to see it end up in our net?
3) Stop over loading lines with all of your best players, you need a shooter, a passer and a bulldog to do the dirty work in the crease and along the boards and everyone better work their ass off like their jock is on fire.
4) Stop with the blind passes or randomly poking at pucks you dont control , like you are poking a stick at a skunk in the bushes.
5) Start to rest your stars now, our playoff future is cooked, we are not winning the division, we might not even get a top 3 seed.
6) Balance your PP and PK, stop playing Willie & AM on the PK, they are p***ys and will just sulk and it affects their offensive game. Mitch is a p***y too but at least he is good at it.
7) Fire Berube now, late in the season firings with Playoff teams are not without precedent, Lou did it in NJ I think it was Fitorek for Robinson, hire Coach Q, yeah it will be a circus for a month but it is a circus anyway. He turned Florida from Dog shit to Gold and did the same in Chicago and rumors are that Bettman is open to letting Q return to behind the bench. you wont hear any the players are tired excuses from him.